Avtenta.si waste collection for nature protection

Avtenta.si wants to become an ecologically aware company. The first step is always the hardest, but we are convinced that, with your help, our “green” path will run smoothly. We will start by separating waste, a simple process that does not require much, just some attention and organisation.

This idea has been maturing for some time. We have asked ourselves many times, what to do with the huge amounts of waste material that have been building up on a daily basis. Paper, plastic cups from the coffee machine, old CDs, computer batteries, printer toners and many more.

The solution came in connection with Azimut, a company that provided suitable cardboard containers that will serve as waste collectors. We are extremely pleased that most of our employees welcome the project of waste separation, so we have no doubts about our success.

Paper

What counts as paper?	What does not count as paper?
- newspapers, - magazines, - notebooks, - books, - catalogues, - envelopes, - office paper, - wrapping paper, - paper shopping bags, - cardboard packaging, - paperboard,	- cardboard hollow packaging for liquids, - copy, waxed and laminated paper, - cellophane, - wallpapers, - sanitary paper, - paper or cardboard packaging, smeared or soaked with food. - dirty or moist paper or cardboard

Advice:
- fold or tear up large cardboard boxes and other packaging,
- always remove the protective foil from magazines, catalogues and envelopes.

What happens to the collected paper and cardboard?
At paper mills, the paper and cardboard is prepared for processing – glue, binding, metal parts and litter is removed – and the raw material is properly processed. Then, paper bags, toilet paper, paper towels, cardboard packaging for eggs, envelopes, notebooks, folders and other products are produced from processed cardboard and paper.

Why is it important to collect paper and cardboard separately?
A ton of recycled paper uses 64% less energy, 50% less water and reduces emissions of hazardous substances into the air by 74%, compared to a ton of paper made from wood.

Plastic

What counts as plastic?	What does not count as plastic?
- plastic bottles for drinks and food, - plastic bottles for detergents, - hollow milk or juice cartons, - plastic cups and bags.	Smeared packaging

Advice:
- always empty the packaging,
- do not forget to remove the caps or lids,
- squeeze the plastic bottles, thus shrinking their volume.

Why is it important to collect plastic separately?
Annual consumption of plastic in the world has risen from approximately 5 million tons to almost 100 million tons in the last fifty years. Today, plastic represents approximately 7% of waste in the average household. Separation of plastic products and their processing can considerably contribute to the protection of natural resources – a staggering 8% of annual oil production is used annually for the production of plastic. Recycling plastic products will also decrease carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide emissions.

What happens with the collected packaging?
Plastic packaging is used for production of casings for ball-point pens and lighters, various pipes, paving stones, bags, rugs, sleeping bags, car parts, brushes, etc.

Hollow packaging for liquid food (milk, juice, etc.), made of cardboard, polyethylene and aluminium foil is also used for the production of special Tectan plates, used in the furniture industry in the process of thermal compressing.

Cans

What counts as cans?	What does not count as cans?
- beverage cans, - cleaned food cans.	Tinplate containers with oil, colour or dangerous waste residues

Advice:
- completely empty and squeeze the cans and throw them into the containers.

Why is it important to collect cans separately?
Cans and other metal packaging represent 8% of all household waste. Metal can be processed over and over again. Bearing in mind that aluminium production is very burdensome for the environment due to the large amounts of required energy and toxic residues, it is of great importance to separate this kind of packaging. Processing one kilogram of aluminium saves six kilograms of bauxite, four kilograms of chemical products and 14 kilowatt hours of electrical energy.

Glass

What counts as glass?	What does not count as glass?
- bottles for food and drink, - glass packaging for medicines and cosmetics, - jars for preserving food, - other glass packaging.	- Okensko, avtomobilsko in drugo ravno steklo, - light pipes, - windows, windscreens and other flat glass, - mirrors, - crystal and screen glass,- lighting glass, - plexiglass, - carbon glass, - laboratory and fireproof glass, - porcelain, - ceramics, - light bulbs.

Hazardous waste

What is considered hazardous waste?

- Batteries,
- waste cartridges and toners,
- computer screens,
- waste oil, varnish, colour.

There are many other types of hazardous waste that you probably do not come across at your workplace.

Why is it important to collect hazardous waste separately?
Hazardous waste contains substances that are dangerous for the environment and, during decomposition, could pose a threat to the ground water and other water sources, air or soil and, consequently, to our health. How important proper disposal of hazardous waste is can be illustrated with a battery dumped into the container for residual waste. The heavy metals in batteries (cadmium, chromium and nickel) can be transferred to the non-hazardous waste.

What happens with hazardous waste?
Hazardous waste is delivered to a specialised organisation registered for collecting and removing hazardous waste. Some of the waste is processed into secondary fuel for cement factories (oils and diluents), or burned (medicines, plant protection agents), the acids are neutralised and the batteries processed.